The government is no longer considering freezing rents, marking a u-turn from speculation earlier in the week.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves was reportedly looking at bringing in a one-year rent freeze on private sector homes, to help with the rising cost of living.

The move knocked the share price of many buy-to-let lenders and National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) chief executive Ben Beadles said it would “be a disaster for landlord and investor confidence and consequently the supply of homes in England”.

But now the government has distanced itself from the idea.

A Downing Street spokesperson told the Financial Times that rent freezes are “not the approach we will be taking”.

The rent freeze was being put forward as part of a broader package to tackle rising bills across the board, which are due to be launched in the coming weeks.